Preparations and Inconveniences
by UnholyDragoon
Summary: Next in my This and That series! Plans move forward to make the Normandy independent, and complications arise due to piracy.


I do not own Mass Effect, the characters, or the setting. I just play in Bioware's playground. This is the next story in my This and That series.

Preparations and Inconveniences

_Wind whips through the field of tall grass that she stood in. The breeze felt amazing against her skin. She spun around, enjoying the sounds and smells she could take in. The sun beat down on her uncovered face._

_Out of breath, Tali stopped spinning. She felt arms wrap around her from behind. She smiled. Her heartbeat sped up as she turned in the arms of the one she loved. If only her heartbeat wasn't so_ loud, _everything would be perfect_...

The engineer slowly swam to consciousness. She found herself wrapped in Shepard's embrace, curled under the sheets of his bed on Intai'sei. The beeping her dream self thought was a heartbeat was actually a console on one of the walls, indicating an incoming contact.

_Bosh'tet_, she thought to herself, as her visor displayed the time. It was just after 0700; far too early for the quarian's tastes. She felt Shepard stirring behind her as the arms encircling her tightened.

With a soft yawn, Shepard said, "good morning Princess." His voice was still rough with sleep, and it stirred the young woman he held.

Tali turned in his embrace, so she was able to see his face. Half-lidded eyes looked at her fondly. She brought a free hand up and touched her mouthpiece before touching his lips. She could feel his lips curl upwards in a smile.

"Good morning to you to, Captain," she said softly. Her man tightened his grip affectionately and kissed her visor. She could see the exact moment he became aware of the incoming call.

Shepard released her slowly. "I'd better get that," he said with regret. He sat up and put his feet on the ground. He looked over his shoulder at her. "Then why don't we get some breakfast and go for a walk?"

The quarian nodded with a smile and curled up with his pillow. "Maybe," she said as she closed her eyes. "I'd rather stay right here." Her voice was slightly slurred, as she was already on her way back to slumber.

The commander chuckled as he made his way to the console. It had always amused him that Tali slept more than he did. She explained once that quarians had a 30 hour day; 20 hours of activity and 10 hours of sleep. She could function on less sleep, but would take the opportunity to sleep longer when she had the chance.

Having reached the console that was chiming softly, Shepard checked the contact. He was not surprised to see that it was from the Normandy. Judging from the time, it was most likely to be Miranda; she kept early hours.

Probably an update on the remodel, he thought to himself as put an earpiece on, No reason to interrupt Tali. Shepard hit the accept key on the console as he moved to the kitchen.

Grabbing a bottle of water, he spoke. "This is Commander Shepard."

"Commander, this is Miranda," the caller identified as Shepard moved to the windows, trying to get as far from the bed as possible.

"Morning Miranda," he acknowledged as he sipped the water.

"The updates to the Normandy are proceeding as expected," his XO said without preamble. "You received a priority message from Alliance Admiral Hackett at 0600."

Shepard nodded as he took in the sunrise. "Ok. Forward it to my omni-tool and I'll look at it."

Miranda hesitated. "We also received a message from Pinnacle Station."

Jack or Grunt? Shepard thought as he sighed. "What's the situation?"

"It seems that there was an altercation between Jack and one of the security personel."

The commander shook his head. "How bad?"

"Not bad, according to Garrus," Miranda replied. "Apparently, Officer Vidonis accused her of cheating after a match."

She filled him in on the rest. To settle things, Garrus had talked Ahern into letting the two duel it out in the simulations. After Jack had trounced the officer without resorting to her biotics, Vidonis was forced to publicly apologize. It had not gone well.

"Jack was a bad winner, wasn't she?" Shepard asked.

"Of course she was Commander," Miranda said, a smirk in her voice. "The admiral was not amused by her gloating, but it seems Vakarian managed to diffuse the situation."

_And that is why I left him in charge_, Shepard thought to himself. Out loud, he added, "Was that the worst of it?"

The Normandy's XO replied in the affirmative. She then gave him a rundown of the Status of the ship, as well as an outline of the plans she and Jacob had formulated to set themselves up as Corsairs. She informed him that some files and reports would be forwarded to him.

Before she ended the call, Miranda had one more piece of news. "There are reports that a batarian pirate fleet was seen In Argos Rho. There is not a lot of information on it at the time, but I felt you should know."

Shepard thanked her for the information, then ended the call. He removed the earpiece and looked over at the bed. Tali was still sound asleep, his pillow firmly in her grasp. She was adorable. He hit a button near the windows, and the windows polarized, shutting out the daylight.

Everything can keep for a while longer, he thought as he made his way back to the bed. Shepard slid under the sheets and wrapped an arm around Tali. He soon joined her in slumber.

* * *

Explosions were all around him. Keeping behind cover, Garrus swept his eyes over his team. Grunt and Jack were firing with abandon with their pulse rifle and shotgun respectively. Predictably, the two were drawing the heaviest fire. The two were pinned down on one side of a small corridor as mercenaries rushed them.

"A little help here?"

The former vigilante leaned out of his own cover and began his own assault using his Mantis sniper rifle open sited. The side of the corridor he and Zaeed held was slightly more open, and it held fewer mercenaries. With Zaeed's Vindicator and his rifle, the duo made short work of the enemies.

Only for another wave to spawn. In even greater numbers. By his reckoning, Garrus estimated there were at least 25 in this wave. With a sigh, the turian lined a shot and prepared to fire.

5 minutes, and two more waves later, the team's shields finally gave way and the simulation ended. Three of the four were breathing hard; Grunt was just laughing. With a grumble, Jack reluctantly gave the krogan a credit chit.

"You got this round you overgrown varren," she ground out. "I'll be the last one standing next time."

The krogan only shook his head. He rested his shotgun on his shoulder and said, "My battlemaster taught me well."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack said with a sigh. "The great Shepard should be here though." She looked over at the turian. "Or is he too busy with his engineer?" She sneered.

Garrus just shook his head. "Try not to sound bitter Jack," He said as he stood up. Before she could reply, he waived her response off. "Got a message during that last round; they'll be here in about two hours."

The one eyed mercenary grinned. "Well, now that his detour's over, maybe we can get some good killing done."

"About time. This ****'s getting boring," Jack said with a shrug as the krogan nodded in agreement.

He shook his head and motioned for the team to leave the simulator. "Trust me, if Shepard gets his way, most of us will need to see Chakwas by the end of the day."

A smile bloomed on the turian's face at the cheers that came from the team he was with. Bloodthirsty some of them might be, but damn did it feel good to be a part of a team this good.

* * *

"This is not how I wanted to spend my morning," Jacob muttered as he walked through the streets of Terra Nova. At least the scenery is great. The biotic smirked to himself as he followed behind Miranda.

The pair was walking through the city, headed to an outfitter recommended by Kate Bowman, the contact the colony provided for the Normandy.

"Why are we doing this again?" Jacob asked as they traveled through the streets. The pair was drawing no end of attention; then again, he wasn't surprised.

While his uniform would not draw much attention in black and orange, the same could not be said of his companion. Miranda was sporting her mostly black uniform as well, with the addition of a black vest over it to hide the Cerberus logo. As usual, she was garnering looks from the men and the women around them.

"Until the commander finalizes which groups, if any, we will associate with," Miranda responded, "We need to get some generic uniforms for the crew."

The soldier nodded. "I get that. But why us?"

Miranda smiled and looked at him over her shoulder. "And here I thought you would jump at the chance to spend some time away from the Normandy." She laughed as Jacob scowled.

"You know that's not it Miri," He stated.

She nodded as the soldier caught up. "I know Jacob." She shrugged. "But who else could we trust this with? Kelly?"

Jacob shuddered. "Good point." He smirked. "We'd end up with something she thought was cute." He shuddered again.

Miranda chuckled and nodded her head in agreement. The continued on in amicable silence until they reached their destination. The building looked no different then the other shops they had passed. Jacob moved just ahead of her, and opened the door.

"Ladies first," he said with a smile to Miranda. She nodded and entered the store.

* * *

"So Shepard, where are we going?" Tali asked as the exited the house they had stayed in.

When she had finally woke from her slumber, she was overjoyed to find her captain curled up around her, peacefully asleep. Once they both woke and had a quick breakfast, the pair had collected some of their gear and made plans to leave.

"I figured we'd head into town and go for that walk," He replied as they stored their weapons in the shuttle and headed towards the closest settlement. The town and port was about 10 kilometers from his vacation home,so they opted to fly there first.

Tali nodded. "It sounds like fun Shepard," she said with a smile.

"Afterwards, we can head up to pinnacle station," he continued. "Garrus and the others are itching for a 'better challenge' and Admiral Ahern will not run the special simulation without us."

The quarian nodded. "It'll be fun," she said, then turned to watch the countryside.

After the short shuttle ride, Tali and Shepard disembarked at a landing zone and headed into town. It was bustling this early in the day, and had an open air market. The largest building was the town hall situated near the center of the square. Judging from the size, it was also the local law enforcement.

Multiple kiosks were up and running. Tali bounced a few times in excitement, and made a beeline for a salvage shop that was nearby.

Shepard chuckled at her enthusiasm and followed. Both were surprised to see that the salvage shop was run by a quarian! A familiar quarian, at least to the commander. As he walked up, he noticed that the shop owner and Tali were talking animatedly.

"Good to see you again Kenn," the human said as he joined the engineer. "Keeping yourself out of trouble?"

She turned. "You know him?" Tali asked in surprise.

"Good to see you too commander," Kenn replied. He turned to Tali. "The commander found me in trouble on Omega and was willing to help me out; in fact, his business gave me enough money to get over here and set up this shop, among other things."

Shepard smiled. "Glad I could help," he said equably. "Why another shop though?"

The male quarian laughed. "It's not what you think," Kenn said as he held up his hands. "Thanks to all your purchases, I actually had enough money to buy an old tug. While I am fixing it up, the spare parts that the flotilla won't need I sell here." He shakes his head. "I'm also making some good money off of repairs here as well."

The commander nodded his head. "On small colonies, being able to repair something instead of getting it new is always preferable." He looked around. "So when will the ship be done?"

Ken shrugged. "Another month or so," he said after a moment. "I'm having a bit of trouble with fitting some of the replacement parts with the engine. Figure I'll be able to get it working soon though."

Finally Tali stopped looking around. "Did you want me to take a look at it Kenn? I can probably get it working for you."

Kenn's eyes widened, but he quickly agreed, after the shop was closed. The three agreed to meet in 8 hours; Tali and Shepard would be back by then. The Normandy crew members made their goodbyes and continued their walk.

"Just how many quarians have you helped?" Tali asked as they walked away.

He chuckled and replied, " A few. There was Kenn, you were there for Lia, there was a quarian on Illium," and then his gaze changed to a fond look. "And of course, a certain quarian who didn't actually need help." He elbowed her lightly as he walked to emphasize his point.

Tali giggled as she wrapped her arms around the appendage he had used. "And I've never been happier for the help," she said with a soft sigh as they continued in the market, enjoying the peace and in each other.

* * *

Despite his reservations, Jacob was relieved to see that Miranda was all business. She approached the salesperson, and quickly negotiated for the new uniforms. Listening to her requests, the soldier smiled. Nothing flashy; clearly Miranda was determined to get this right, as was her habit.

"Jacob, come over here," Miranda indicated as she browsed the digital catalog. "They have the basic design already available; try it on so I can see what other adjustments need to be made."

Grumbling, Jacob did as requested. When he exited the changing room, Miranda looked him up and down. She smiled, and Jacob was glad it reached her eyes. _Good to see she really is letting herself feel_, he thought with a smile as he changed back into his regular armor.

When he returned, he could see Miranda using her omni-tool to display a small image. He looked at it with a raised eyebrow as he walked up.

"That going to be our new insignia?" He asked as he joined her at the kiosk.

She nodded. "Yes. I had spoken with the commander about it, and he felt that this would get across the correct message." She hesitated. "I came up with the final design though."

The soldier nodded. "That it will. Simple, but expressive." He smiled. "I like it. I'm sure Shepard will as well." the former operative smiled at him, clearly happy with his approval.

After a few more minutes, Miranda indicated they could leave. As they exited the store, she turned to her companion. "The new uniforms will be delivered later today," she stated as the pair began the trek back to the Normandy.

Jacob nodded in affirmation. "Sounds good." He noted a small restaurant and paused. "Want to grab some some food?" He grinned at her. "Food Gardner didn't have a hand in?"

Miranda smirked, but agreed. The two entered the restaurant, content to extend the quiet, crew free moments they had, able to enjoy time spent with the other.

* * *

In space, a small group of ships appeared in the Phoenix system. None of them were uniform in the slightest. The largest was nearly the size of the current Normandy. All showed heavy use.

"We've arrive Captain."

The captain nodded from his seat and brought up a display. "Defenses?"

"We are showing three frigates and Pinnacle Station, an Alliance training outpost," a crewman replied from a scanning station. "Scans indicate that the planet Intai'sei is the most populated."

The display showed an image of the system they were in. Pinnacle station was highlighted. The captain of the largest ship, the Heaven's Plunder, grinned ferally, his four eyes narrowed menacingly.

"Excellent," he responded. "Send the orders: the Plunder and two others will take the station. The other two are going to that planet while the Alliance is occupied with the rest."

He steepled his hands as he stared at the display. "After we've secured the colony, the rest are to fall back there; the Alliance won't be able to stop us if we do enough damage."

"Orders transmitted Captain," a crewman responded.

"Let's go get us some new pets."

* * *

"Admiral, we have a p-problem," a crewman stated as he ran up to Ahern. The admiral frowned as he was studying the reports on Shepard's team and their scores in the simulations.

"What is it?"

The crewman hesitated. "According to Ochren, the simulations simply cannot handle the proficiency of Shepard's crew."

Ahern nodded. "Well, once Shepard gets here, I'll let them use the modified simulation; that should do." Even as he was returning to his report, warning sirens began to blare.

"Sir, incoming ships!"

Ahern's eyes narrowed. "What are we dealing with?" His eyes widened when he saw the pirate ships come in to view. And the ships headed toward the colony. He began barking orders.

At the same time, Garrus and the team ran into the operations room. Taking a quick glance at the screens, he nodded to the fire team. Seeing they were ready, he turned to the admiral.

"What's the situation?"

The admiral turned to Garrus. "Pirates." gestured to the screen. "four frigates to our three; though we do have some fighters on base they probably don't know about." He issued a few orders then turned back.

"The biggest issue is that two ships have headed straight toward Intai'sei."

Mandibles twitched in annoyance. "Dammit, the commander's down there!" He shook his head. Glancing around, Garrus noted the shuttle and then looked at the team. He made a quick decision.

"Grunt, Jack, you're with me," He stated. He looked at Zaeed. "Take a fighter, and get to the planet to back up Shepard; a fighter will get there before the frigates." The scarred mercenary moved off after he nodded.

Ahern looked at the turian in surprise. "And you?"

Garrus looked over at the admiral. "We're taking the shuttle and boarding the largest pirate ship." Grunt and Jack grinned widely. "We take it down, and the rest will scatter."

"Good luck," Ahern said as he returned to ordering his soldiers. The vigilante turned to the rest of the team and they headed to the shuttle.

As the team entered the shuttle and prepped for takeoff, he pulled up his omnitool. He noted most signals were jammed, but he could still get through to the Normandy. He thanked his gods for small miracles.

He opened a channel. "EDI, Come in. I need you to get in contact with Shepard..."

* * *

It was a beautiful day. Of that Tali was certain. After spending a few hours with Shepard in the city, the two were now on their way back to Shepard's house. The plan was to get their weapons and armor, then head to Pinnacle Station.

As they entered the house, Shepard's console was blinking for an urgent message. He immediately accessed it as Tali went to secure their weapons.

"This is Shepard."

"Commander Shepard, this is Admiral Hackett," the voice responded. "It's good to hear from you."

Shepard grinned. "You too admiral." He sat down. "Have you had a chance to review my request?"

"Yes we have," Hackett responded. "While we would much rather have you officially back with us, the brass has agreed that this is a compromise that we can live with," and he paused. "Councilor Anderson let us know that we would not be able to officially have you back, as the Council is still undecided regarding your affiliations and we have to make nice."

He sighed. "Best I could hope for, really," the commander said, his voice weary and resigned.

The two spent the next twenty minutes discussing the details before the call was ended. Shepard stood and walked over to Tali. Giving her a brief squeeze on the shoulder, he began suiting up in his armor.

As he made himself ready, his console beeped again. Seeing he was occupied, Tali answered it. "This is Tali. Commander Shepard is unavailable."

"Tali, this is EDI," the ship began. "Garrus just notified us that pirates are attacking Pinnacle Station." The quarian's eyes widened. "Additionally, two frigates are making their way to Intai'sei."

Shepard finished donning his armor and rushed over. "Where are they going to land EDI?"

"Indications should be the largest settlement 10 kilometers from your location."

The two shared a glance; the town had little to no weaponry. Not enough to protect against Pirates! Acting at his gesture, Tali opened both cases holding his master spectre weaponry. She collected it quickly and put it in a bag.

Meanwhile, Shepard had ended the call after getting an update about the team as well as Zaeed's estimated arrival. He headed over to Tali and grabbed the bag with a nod.

"We're meeting Zaeed at the port," He said as they left the building. "If we can get everyone into the town hall, we should be able to hold there. Let's move!"

* * *

"I hate flying," Zaeed grumbled as he raced the fighter into Intai'sei's atmosphere. He was relieved that the turian was right. He'd gotten there about 10 minutes before the pirate ships.

Unfortunately, they had seen him and he was simply not cut out for space battles. One of the ships had managed to clip him, and the fighter was in bad shape. It still managed to land though.

As the mercenary climbed out of the damaged fighter, he saw Tali running up to meet him. He didn't see the commander immediately, but he could see colonists fleeing toward a large building.

"Zaeed!" Tali shouted over the ship's engines.

He nodded and pulled his vindicator. "We've got a few minutes before they land," he said as he looked to the sky. "My guess is they will land on separate ends of town to try and catch as many as possible.

Tali pulled her shotgun and gestured him to follow. "The commander has most of the town in the Town hall. He had a few spare weapons, so he wants us to try and hold the pirates in the square."

"Goddamn heroics!" Zaeed said with a smirk as they ran. He could see the commander in the distance and they hurried to catch him. They reached him just as the pirate ships landed.

"Zaeed, Tali, we hold them here," he said as they approached. "Find cover, and wait for them to come to us. We have to protect the colonists."

So much for being bored, the aged mercenary thought as he checked his weapon. Then he saw the pirates in the distance. Wish Jesse was here for this, he sighed wistfully even as he pulled his sniper rifle to thin the pirates out at range.

* * *

Out in space, the fighting was brutal. Do to the initial surprise, the pirates had managed to take out one of the frigates before the battle got started. The other two alliance frigates were fairing poorly, until the fighters engaged.

As Admiral Ahern suspected, the pirates were not prepared or the fighters. The small, fast ships could not do much damage, but they made enough of a distraction that the frigates had a more even fight.

Except for the largest pirate ship. The alliance had to avoid it, as the larger ship's firepower was simply too much. Then the shuttle, flanked by two fighters, punched through. Using the fighters as a distraction, the shuttle managed to land on the top of the frigate, near an emergency hatch.

Garrus had it hacked and opened even as the two fighters peeled off. He grimaced as one of the fighters took a bad hit and exploded. Time for some payback,, he thought grimly. This was what he prefered; it was simple, black and white. No gray to worry about. Signalling his team, the entered the ship.

"Captain, we've got a breach on hatch 7," a pirate said to the Plunder's captain.

His eyes widened. "What? How would have the balls?" He pulled up the interior sensors. It was a turian, a human covered in tattoos, and a krogan. "All available personell to the slave pens! We've got borders!"

As his crew moved to intercept, he could only laugh in shock. Now this is going to be a good fight. I will break them myself. He stood.

"Keep me updated. I'll handle this myself."

Meanwhile, Grunt was laughing as he charged down a corridor. There was a group of pirates at the end. Garrus and Jack were providing covering fire as the tank bred bore down on the pirates. His shields took some fire, and he pulled his claymore.

"I am KROGAN!" He shouted as he pulled up his shotgun. It roared even louder than him, and a pirate was thrown into a wall from the blast, nearly splattering on impact. Two more tried to wear out his armor as they leaned out of cover to fire.

A moment later, only one continued to fire as Garrus sniped around the krogan. The other pirate looked at his friend. That was a mistake, as Grunt had reached him. A kick from the krogan later, and the pirate was down.

Two more were behind cover, trying to reload. Jack merely smirked and glowed blue. Letting out a shockwave, she threw them from cover with her biotics. The turian got one, and she used her shotgun on the other. Sparing a quick glance, it looked like it was clear for the moment.

Garrus checked his sensors. "Alright, take the left door. That will get us closer to the command center." The team headed through the door, and found themselves in a large cargo hold that had many cages inside it. Empty, the turian noted with relief.

Then a door on the opposite side of the room opened. Ten mercenaries, two of them krogan, spilled into the room and grabbed cover. He smirked, and lined up his shot. One shot, one kill.

"Too bad the commander's missing this!" Jack shouted as she used her biotics to stagger some pirates that Grunt quickly mowed down. "Dammit Grunt, those were my kills!"

"Ha, ha ha," the krogan laughed as he fired on a different mercenary. "Kill them faster next time," he said with a grin as he charged at a krogan. The two collided.

The pirate didn't stand a chance. he threw a punch at Grunt. The tank bred caught it with one hand. He pulled, then headbutted the krogan pirate to the ground. A blast from the claymore, and all the pirate was doing was twitching.

Then a crate fell open. Inside, five Loki mechs activated. Garrus used a tech mine and took them out before they could finish powering up. He griined as they all powered down.

Jack ran at a large crate that two mercenaries were behind. Instead of running around it, her biotics flared and she punched the crate. She sent it flying, pirates still behind it, into a wall. The pirates were crushed even as the crate broke open.

Soon, all of the pirates were gone, and Garrus indicated they would move on. They entered the next room, and saw even more pirates; this time, they also had a Ymir mech active. That's more like it, the vigilante thought as he issued orders. More gunfire erupted.

* * *

On the ground, the pirates fared worse. Not expecting much resistance, there were few live soldiers and many mechs. Against Tali and Shepard, this was a mistake.

Tali made good use of her hacking and drone to confuse and redirect fire. Able to hack multiple Loki's at once, she brought chaos to the pirates front lines. Her shotgun also decimated those that lost their shields due to her energy drain.

Shepard used his overload to frequently scrap mechs. Those he did not outright destroy, his throw field finished. When a pirate team foolishly tried to use rockets, the reave he threw (courtesy of training with Samara) ended them while he turned his fire to an enemy vanguard.

Meanwhile, Zaeed was giving the pirates he faced lessons in how a real mercenary fought. After they closed, he switched to his vindicator. combined with his inferno grenades, he took advantage of the pirates that were distracted by Tali's drone.

It was over too soon for the scarred mercenary. Eventually, the trio fought the pirates all the way back to the ships. A well placed overload and some wuick hacking from Tali disabled the ships one by one. In the aftermath, nearly a dozen pirates had opted to surrender out of all the pirates on the frigates.

Finally, Shepard looked at them. "Looks like you picked the wrong system to enter," he said with a grin. He looked over at Tali. "Anything good?"

"Yes Shepard," she said with a nod. "We can get some decent salvage from their spare parts. From what I can see from their records, they are most likely wanted by both the Citadel and Terminus systems."

The commander nodded. "All right, I'll call it in." He contacted Miranda, who agreed to contact the Alliance and begin the process turning in the bounties. After thanking her, Shepard placed a call in to Garrus for an update.

"Garrus," he said when the connection went through, "How goes it on your end?"

* * *

"Pretty good," Garrus said from where he was seated on the frigates bridge. He causually brought his hand down, 'accidentally' knocking the pirate captain unconscious. "You missed all the fun."

Jack grinned from where she was leaning on a console. Grunt laughed from his place at the entrance to the ship's command center. It had taken the trio very little time to subdue the remainder of the pirates. Garrus chuckled as he remembered the surprise on the captain's face when they charged his position.

"Three? There's only three of them?" The captain had screamed as he saw the remaining of his forces trumped soundly by the boarders.

The turian looked over at him from beyond the scope of a rifle. "You could do us a favor and surrender," he said conversationally. "I'm getting a little tired."

"Or don't," the krogan had added. "I'm just starting to have fun."

"Get them!" the captain yelled, his dreams of conquest crumbling.

The trio opened fire, and the pirates fell one by one. Most fell to the combined shotgun fire from the tattooed girl and the seemingly unstoppable krogan. When the captain tried to summon a drone, it was immediately shut down by an overload from Garrus. And then it was over; the captain was the only pirate left. He stared at the horror, and dropped his gun.

"Ha!" Grunt had chortled. "I won this round human."

Jack had growled and gotten in the krogan's face. "No way! Those last two kills were mine!"

"Not my fault your biotics threw them at me," he responded with a ferocious grin. "They were still alive when they hit me." Grunt shrugged. "Then, they weren't."

Jack shook her head. "My attack killed them; you were just a convenient stop."

"That's enough you two," Garrus said from where he was cuffing the pirate captain. "I'm calling it a draw. You can settle it at Pinnacle when we meet up with Shepard."

Both grumbled, but acquiesced. The pirate's eyes widened. Shepard? He was here? He summoned what little bravado he had left.

"If you let me go, I'll have my crew on the planet release the captives."

Garrus only laughed. "How about we head check? Even without my help, I bet Shepard already has them beat."

Shaking his head out of his memories, he spoke to Shepard again. "We're done here; this ship is secured and it looks like the Alliance finished off the other two." He smiled. "Want us to meet you there?" He listened to his commander's response and nodded. "Ok, see you at Pinnacle." Garrus turned to Grunt and Jack.

Looks like Shepard is going to meet us at Pinnacle." He shook his head in amusement. "Seems like you are going to get your run in that sim after all."

* * *

Drawing only an occasional stare, mostly in admiration, Jacob and Miranda were enjoying their lunch. They had found a small restaurant that served wild game from the planet. It made a pleasant change from the food Gardner typically made; while he was a good cook, he was far to enamored with making what he called gumbo. As it was, it was clear the cook was more comfortable with fish dishes than with other forms of food.

Jacob had ordered the local stew. Always one for the finer things, Miranda had ordered the local equivalent to prime rib. Both enjoyed their meal, sprinkled with light conversation. Both were having a good time as they reconnected over the meal.

"We should do this more often Miranda," Jacob said with a smile as he sipped fro his beer.

Miranda smiled. "We should Jacob." She reached out and grabbed his hand. "We should have been doing this all along." She frowned. "I'm sorry things went so wrong."

The soldier's smile widened and his eyes softened. "All in the past Miri," he said kindly. "How about we just go from here?" He squeezed her hand. "I think we're both in better places than before."

"We are," Miranda said softly. "Let's take it slow," she added after a moment. "I'd like it to be real this time around; no pretenses."

Jacob nodded. "It always was for me," he said. "But I get what you mean." He gestured to where the Normandy was visible in the distance.

"That ship has been about a lot of new beginnings," he stated. "Good beginnings."

Miranda only nodded. Her job, and his morals had gotten in the way before. But here, now, there was nothing stopping them; no hidden agendas, no ulterior motives. Just them. It scared her, but it also made her hopeful that for once, she could finally have something that had nothing to do with her genetics. She could truly earn a place with Jacob, with this crew.

As they sat in companionable silence, Miranda's comm indicated an inbound message. Smiling in apology, she let go of Jacob's hand. He just shrugged, and called for the tab.

"This is Miranda," she said as she answered the line. "What?"

Jacob looked over as Miranda was listening to whoever was speaking. He saw her shake her head, a rueful smile on her face.

"Absolutely commander," she answered after a moment. "I'll contact the Alliance through the proper channels and let you know as soon as we have a response. Anything else?" She asked. Receiving an answer, she made her goodbye and ended the call.

While the conversation was finishing, Jacob had settled the bill. He turned to his companion. "What was that about?"

Miranda could only grin. "Looks like we have our first successful operation under the new charter," she answered. "Pirates attacked Intai'sei and Pinnacle Station." Jacobs eyes widened and he moved to stand in alarm

"No need to rush off," she added, as she held up a hand. "The commander and the team have already handled the situation." She shook her head. "Only Shepard could get into trouble like that while on leave."

Jacob grinned. "Not the first time, and certainly not the last." He held out a hand. "Well, shall we head back? I'm sure the crew will be happy to learn we are off to a good start already."

"Absolutely."


End file.
